Slavery

Text: Romans 6:12-23

Theme: We are all slaves one way or the other; the choice is ours.

Key verses: “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master…” (v. 12-14a). “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living” (v. 16). “Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living” (v. 18). “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right” (v. 20). “But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves to God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life” (v. 22).

What God said to me: Dwayne, this is profoundly fundamental in everything you understand and do in your Christian life. Paul has taken the many facets of human depravity and failure and struggle and boiled them all down to two simple camps. Either you are a slave to sin or you are a slave to righteousness. There is no middle ground for people. Despite what people may want to think about themselves as proud, independent, intelligent thinkers who are free to do as they please, the harsh reality is that every man, woman and child is born into sin, and sin will rule them. They simply do not have the power within themselves to think independently of their sinful nature. That’s not to say they will never do good things or think healthy thoughts. Everyone is made in my image, so some good can come from them from time to time. But in my eyes they are never good. They are dark with sin. Nothing they can do will ever please me or satisfy my justice. And even when they seem on a streak of doing good, the evil inside of them will eventually prevail. Why? Because as Paul says so eloquently and simply: They are enslaved by their sin. Enter Jesus. My Son came to break the bonds of sin and self. Because of your trust in Him and relationship with Him as Your Savior and Lord, you no longer have to obey your sinful nature. You are free from that old nature. But in order to be free from sin, you must be a slave to me. You can’t have it both ways or neither way. It’s one way or the other–no middle ground. Which will you choose today?

What I said to God: Thank You, my heavenly Lord, my Father and King. By Your grace I choose life. I choose freedom in You, not to sin and act as I want, but rather to do only what pleases You. For in doing so, I will find real peace, abundant life and true freedom. It’s an anomaly. It’s a dichotomy. More so, it’s a travesty if we know this truth to be truth; yet, we keep on walking in our sin. God, help us. Help my family, my friends–help me–to walk in the Light as You are in the Light and choose total freedom in life and death to sin.